Aurum Bella
by jarlcarriers
Summary: We're a tight-knit group. Most kids don't like school, but we just focus on the bright side of it- Each other. Then our home is destroyed, and 22 kids in a class become 21. We won't rest till we find out why. Like your average teens we fight, we love, we tease, we laugh. Tis Iles.
1. I Knew

There are too many things I'd come to love about Iles. Squeezing an entire grade onto to lunch tables, harmful dodgeball games, the place where the paint peeled to look like New Jersey, various injuries, complaints about homework, extremely loud bells, endless debates, unusual obsessions, and the weirdest inside jokes. People thought that we were mental, and we joked that we actually went to Lesi, the school for 'special' kids instead of Iles, the gifted and talented school.

We were close, we could talk about issues about home, friends, school, parents, crushes, and relationships, even if the people we would talk to were part of the problem. Maybe I imagined the extent of our friendship, it could be weaker than I thought, it could be stronger. I hope for the latter.

We all loved our school, even if we complained about it 24/7. WE knew every single nook and cranny of that building... or so we thought.

I'm Aurum Bella, and I died the day of the Iles School Shooting/Fire. Why did I die? Because I knew what really was going on.


	2. The Properties of Gold

Aurum Bella. It was a fitting name. It translated to shining dawn and gold in Latin. And she was. Golden. Every little thing about her seemed shined, polished, bright, beautiful, and breathtaking.

Her personality was golden. It blinded you. The way she'd walk in on you having a bad day and make you grin like a fool was flawless. Forget chocolate, you just needed to talk to her for a minute.

Her words were golden. Aurum never said anything that came back to bite her. She always chose the perfect words to speak and they went together perfectly.

Her face was golden. Her eyes were full of life and sparkled 24/7. She was always smiling no matter what she was thinking inside.

Her actions were golden. Rocking back and forth on her heels, analyzing any problem in front of her, then setting out to fix it. Scaring the crap out of someone by tickling them was always timed perfectly.

Even her hair was golden. Blonde and bright. Smooth and soft as a... I sound like a pedophile, don't I?

Anyway, Aurum never let you see how messed up her life really was. We thought she led an average life and went to the anything _but _average school. The way she lit up the room made you think there was nothing wrong in her life.

Of course she had her random space outs. But all of us did. Everybody has those random moments where you get lost in thought. We almost never saw her face during hers blank outs.

Her cover started to leak through a month before the fire. That was when I finally got a glimpse of what she felt inside. Realizing that her thoughts weren't always sunny.

The first time was in gym class, at the beginning of the school year. She had been out of it since she got off the bus. Bumping into people in the halls, dropping things, forgetting class materials, and not knowing which class we had when. She wasn't talkative and she was unresponsive. During soccer, she bent down to tie her shoe, and the wind blew her hair away from her face. I glanced down as I jogged by and her expression was the so sad it was unbelievable. For a girl who never stopped smiling, the look on her face made me want to cry.

The second time was in Lit class a week later. We were reading a short story, and something, I don't remember what exactly, made her look up and gasp. I think it was something about a mass murderer. I didn't think much of it, because it _was _about murdering, so...

The third time was a week before the fire and Aurum had just been staring at her lunch for like ten minutes, and some of us had started to notice. Ashi and Jaz asked if she was okay, and she snapped out of it, but once again, she had that sad expression on, that she failed to hide. The table got quiet and even Fox stopped talking. But like all of our random quiet moments, we brushed it off and began to chat again.

The fourth time was the day before the fire. Jase had made a joke about 'The Point' and the entire class had erupted in laughter. Between laughs, he made another comment about how Anon had been Arrow when we put on the play, and we started laughing even more. Aurum looked like she was about to cry. Her gaze was longing, like she wanted to hang on to the moment for the rest of her lives. We had no clue.


	3. You Can't

**AN- The last chapter was the POV of Brandon.**

Aurum POV: _flashback_

As soon as I heard, I ran. Not away. I ran to him. I ran as fast as I could. My lungs were on fire and my knees felt like they were about to give up on me. Whether that was from exhaustion or the news, I'm still not sure.

As I approached the red doors that opened to my not-so-lovely home my brain went into panic mode, which it rarely entered. For months, Ryan had made no move. He hadn't created plans in a long time. And to be honest, that had scared the crap out of me.

Using the special knock I had been taught years back, I attempted to collect my thoughts. I knew what I was about to do would be difficult. Once Ryan made a decision, no matter how inhumane and sinister it was, it was almost impossible to change.

Leigh opened the door, greeting me with a fake smile. "What's the matter, Argon?" She let me in and closed the door behind her.  
"You know perfectly well what's the matter. And it's Aurum, not Argon." I snapped, trying to ignore the fact that she was in a freakin' bathrobe.

She was about to respond when Ryan's voice came from the master bedroom. "Who is it, sweetheart?" I tried not to throw up at his tone.  
Moments later I was seated across from him in his kitchen, staring at him with fear and hatred. "What?" he asked me.

My words got stuck in my throat. They crashed like roller coaster carts that had been stopped to fast. I looked up at Ryan's rugged features. 32 years of being cruel to people had given him a cold heart, and it showed on his face. He had short dirty blonde hair and steely blue eyes.

"You can't kill them." Those four words came out in a whisper.  
"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows.  
"Not them."  
"And why not?" His smug look started to aggravate me."  
"You can't."  
"Watch me."  
"You don't even know if they know the Secret! Are you just going to kill for sport?" my voice rose.  
He was taken aback by my confidence. "Girl, don't make me mad."  
"You've made me mad for years! Why can't you handle a little girl asking you questions?"  
"Shut up, kid." Leigh's voice came from behind me as Ryan stood up.  
"No. You shut up, slut. You too!" I told her and Ryan. "Both of you. You can't bear the thought of getting in trouble with the Boss, so you'll kill over 50 innocent kids to get in the clear!"  
She smacked me to the floor. I wanted to lay on the cool tiles forever. No such luck.

Pulling me close to his face with my shirt collar, Ryan whispered "I think you're forgetting who's in charge here. I hope you remember why. I think you need a refresher." he dragged me to my room.  
Pushing me to the floor, he began to kick and punch me till blood stained my shirt and matted my hair. Pain filled me and tears streamed down my face. I didn't dare scream. If I did, I'd just get hit more. Wham. My face got punched. Boom. I was kicked in the gut.

After Ryan was convinced I wouldn't ever threaten authority again, he shoved me into my tiny closet that I could barely fit in. "One more word that I don't like, and your precious sister will get double of that. I think you've become a bit too attatched to your friends." he slammed the door and locked it.  
Curled up in a tiny ball, I sobbed till no more tears could come out.  
Ryan was going to kill all my friends at Iles. He was going to kill all my friends in a month. And I couldn't do anything, but wait.


End file.
